In today's fast paced business world, it is common for a person to rely on a combination of communication devices, such as: desk top telephones, mobile telephones, cellular telephones, fax machines, pagers, and the like, as well as enhanced communication services, such as: voice mail, e-mail, text messaging and the like to accommodate their communication needs.
In an office environment, desk top telephone service, voice mail service, and fax service is typically provided by a private telephone communication system. A contemporary private telephone communication system consists of a switching network, a plurality of desktop telephones, and a voice mail server. The voice mail server is typically coupled to the switching network using a proprietary interface. Each desk top telephone and fax machine is coupled to the switching network by an extension line that consists of twisted pair conductors that are terminated by a telephone jack in the office. Communication between the desktop telephone and the switching network over each extension line utilizes either proprietary digital signaling or plain old telephone service (POTS) signaling. The switching network is further coupled to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) using trunk lines that are connected to a central office switch that is typically managed by the local telephone service provider. The switching network controls calls between extensions and between an extension and a remote destination via a trunk line coupled to the PSTN. The switching network also routes calls to the voice mail server when an extension remains unanswered, is busy, or is otherwise programmed to route calls to voice mail.
Recently fixed wireless networks have enabled wireless mobile telephones to be supported by the private telephone communication system . A wireless telephone controller is coupled to a wireless network in which a plurality of mobile telephones may be operated. The wireless telephone controller is coupled to the switching network of the private telephone communication system. In operation, each mobile telephone is assigned an extension number and calls directed to that extension are routed to the wireless telephone controller and then to the mobile telephone over the wireless network. Because the mobile telephone is equivalent to a desktop telephone from the perspective of the private telephone communication system, full voice mail services are supported for the mobile telephone.
E-mail service is typically provided by an e-mail service provider (either a private system or an independent Internet mail service provider). An e-mail client on the person's desktop and/or notebook computer is typically used for sending and receiving e-mail over a data network connection to the e-mail service provider.
Cellular service is provided by a cellular service provider. A cellular handset is used to place and receive cellular telephone calls within the cellular service provider's network. Additionally, the cellular service provider may offer a voice mail service which prompts callers to leave a voice mail in the event that the cellular handset is busy or remains unanswered after several rings. Similarly, pager services are provided by a paging service provider. A one-way (or two-way) pager may receive (and send) text messages within the paging service provider network.
A problem associated with the above systems is that there is a lack of integration and coordination between the services. This lack of integration and coordination causes a person to carry several devices with them as they do not know which telephone number a caller will choose to use. And, it causes a person to check multiple voice mail systems and e-mail systems frequently to avoid delays in returning calls or e-mails.
Some of these problems can be eliminated, in theory, by vigilant use of call forwarding services to assure that incoming calls are forwarded, or funneled, to a single telephone that the person chooses to use at a particular time. However, call forwarding is unworkable if call forward programming cannot be changed remotely and is still time consuming if programming can be performed remotely.
Other advancements in voice mail server technology have addressed the need to frequently check multiple voice mail systems. For example, some voice mail servers send an audio file of a voice mail message to a specified e-mail address. This enables a person to retrieve voice mail messages through his or her e-mail client rather than dialing into the voice mail server. Additionally, some voice mail servers also initiate a call to a person's pager after a voice mail has been received to notify the person of a voice mail has arrived.
While these advances have helped address the problems, they have not eliminated the need to have all such communication devices and the need to vigilantly check multiple systems for voice mail and/or e-mail messages throughout the day.
What is needed is a multi-media communication management system that allows for operator mobility that does not suffer the lack of integration and coordination of existing communication systems.